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Effective Writing
Copyright by Dr. Stephen
Wilbers
First published
October 15, 2007
Eliminate
wordiness to write with power
by Stephen Wilbers
You’ve heard it many times. Don’t
waste your reader’s time. Avoid wordy expressions.
"Omit needless words," Strunk and
White say in The Elements of Style. "Omit surplus words,"
Richard Wydick tell us in Plain English for Lawyers. "Clutter
is the disease of American writing," William Zinsser says in
On Writing Well.
From many authorities you hear the
same message. Make every word count. Compressing your language adds
emphasis to your writing and adds power to your style. But what
types of wordiness are common? What are the patterns?
Let’s begin with three types of
redundancy:
•Redundant
modifiers
Some words require no modification. They stand on their own. It’s a
true fact. Ask anyone in the immediate vicinity. Do you have any
personal opinions on the subject? Past memories? Should I stop
referring back to these obvious examples? Do you see the end result,
or should I continue on? If you can find the eight examples of
redundant modifiers in this paragraph, you deserve a free gift.
•Redundant
pairs
It’s a habit formed in 1066 when William the Conqueror invaded
England and imposed a new language on the locals, who were naturally
resentful, so they began pairing the new words with their old ones,
and 941 years later we still have the habit. So first and foremost I
hope and trust that each and every one of you will make a full and
complete effort to eliminate any and all, as well as various and
sundry, redundant pairs from your writing. And so on and so forth.
•Redundant
categories
Another pattern to watch for is the tendency to state an attribute
and then, perhaps in an effort to be precise, to state its broader
category. The typeface you are reading, for example, is black in
color, and though it is relatively small in size, I hope you find it
attractive in appearance. Some variations in typeface, of course,
are only cosmetic in appearance.
In addition to these three types
of redundancy, there are two more common sources of wordiness:
•Meaningless
modifiers
We all have little mannerisms that help us
find our words and formulate our thoughts, but basically sometimes
these mannerisms basically become a crutch and basically become
annoying. Totally. Well, actually they virtually become a drum beat
that effectively distracts the reader from our message. Definitely.
Sort of.
•Wordy
expressions
Until such time as (until) you learn to spot these patterns during
the course of (during) your editing, you will waste your reader’s
time. In the event that (if) you let one of these wordy expressions
slide by prior to sending (before you send) your message, you should
try harder the next time owing to the fact that (because) in the
final analysis (finally) there’s always another message to write.
In addition to these patterns of
redundancy and wordiness, fancy words can distract and annoy your
readers. So if you want to endeavor to effectuate a change in your
style, I deem it imperative you commence tout de suite.
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